AEGiS-AP: Myanmar Junta Denies HIV Is On The Rise

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Myanmar Junta Denies HIV Is On The Rise

Associated Press - December 3, 2006

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military junta insisted its HIV rates are not on the rise, calling such allegations a campaign by opponents to destabilize the country, the state-run media said Sunday.

Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he would seek to introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for the government to change its policies. He cited Myanmar's failure to end abuses that have led 1 million people to flee the country, and its actions that have made the transmission of diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria across borders more likely.

But Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, the Secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, said the adult HIV rates in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has gone down slightly from 1.5% to 1.3% in 2006, the New Light of Myanmar reported, or about 300,000 people.

Twenty-five thousand new infections are reported each year in the country.

Thein Sein warned that despite successful achievements by the government in the fight against HIV/AIDS, "destructive elements with a political agenda have spread false accusations that the HIV/AIDS problem is growing in Myanmar and tried to block access to international assistance."

Despite Myanmar's low infection rates, it has struggled to treat AIDS patients, with many people crossing over to neighboring Thailand for vital antiviral medications.

Earlier this year, Myanmar announced it would receive US$99.5 million in foreign aid to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the three leading causes of death in the country.

The money replaces funds withdrawn by a U.N.-created Global Fund in 2005, after the junta imposed travel restrictions on NGOs.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by detained Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory.

Since then, Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention. She is kept in near-solitary confinement at her home, and is generally not allowed telephone contact or outside visitors.

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